Prime Minister Edi Rama was present today at the International Competition for the Requalification of the Palace of Congresses.
The Prime Minister said that the building has serious problems, but it will be transformed while preserving its identity and turning it into a strategic tourism point.
“I just want to thank all the participating studios. It was a significant turnout. It was not an easy decision to choose the 5 finalists. I also want to thank the Albanian Investment Corporation.
As we speak today, together with this competition, we are in 15 international competitions. We have 3 competitions that are being prepared. All of them are of the highest international standards, not only in terms of the participation of the most well-known architects or the composition of international juries, but also in terms of the procedures followed. There are currently 12 signed contracts, 7 in process, 3 master plans.
There are 20 public facilities for development. The whole essence of the activity of the Albanian Investment Corporation is to, by making available state properties in need of development, to get back high financial profitability in the function of the public. The profitability of the corporation from this first phase is quantified, estimated in the signed contracts, 523 million euros, in the direct benefit of the state from this activity.
The contracted economic profitability is over 1 billion euros. The land area for these projects is 46,700 m². While the one benefited for the needs of the state is 267 thousand square meters. 355 thousand are benefited from the enterprise. The state has its own needs. Not by providing them with symbolic costs and benefits, but by becoming a large owner of valuable assets that are available to the state.
We still have a number of spaces today that are rented and paid for by private owners. There is a significant displacement of state ownership of assets and a transformation of the urban fabric is taking place here. The Palace of Congresses is just like you said. The building has serious problems, it is time for a transformation while preserving its identity. The call also means the development of a facility near the Palace of Congresses. The goal is for this palace to arrive on time from the point of view of technology, the quality of the spaces, the entire reorganized and re-committed structure, but also for this palace and this area to become another tourist destination of Tirana, of Tirana as the capital. Creating life here as well as around the pit of the stadium”, said Prime Minister Rama.
